


I Wish...

by InkTail



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII
Genre: 100 word fic, Drabbles, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:08:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24629806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkTail/pseuds/InkTail
Summary: I have twenty-three tiny wishes, but you probably won't remember them all. So I put them all together into one; I’d like to spend more time with you.
Relationships: Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough
Comments: 13
Kudos: 21





	1. ... To See You Smile More

Returning his blatant flirting gets one. 

Running down to greet him, dress muddy where her knees were resting, gets another.

She tucks a flower into Zack's hair and he beams, radiant.

He has so many smiles; One for when she's looking, another for when he thinks she's not. There's the  _ good idea _ smile, and the  _ bad idea _ grin; wholly different from his mischievous smirk. 

He brightens the church in a way that makes her wish she could catch that light like a glowbug , to keep it in a jar at her bedside at night to scare all her nightmares away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm doing a little drabble exercise, Zaeris flavor  
> Stand by for the rest o/


	2. ... We Could Grow (These Flowers) Together

"Here, like this," Aerith takes his wrist and gently repositions the trowel he holds. "You'll dull the edge, stabbing like that." Zack ahhs mildly as she guides his hand through the motion, scooping river muck into the plastic pail at his knee. "See? Easier on your wrists, too." Aerith lingers her shoulder against his, watching him.

"My wrists could handle it." Surely mako can heal a little arthritis.

"You may eat those words in twenty years," Aerith chides, turning back to her own bucket on the river's edge.

"Maybe,” he smiles. “You can correct me again when we get there."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Must be nice having an entire river in your yard. Some flowers really like clay and river muck to grow in!


	3. ... To Hear About Your Adventures

“Our missions are hardly adventures,” Zack laughs. “Though, they’re so infrequent now with the ceasefire that they could be.”

“Do you leave Midgar?”

“Sometimes. We’re not needed in Wutai, and the army gets all the fun extermination gigs, unless it’s _really_ big. Other things… are classified— probably can’t talk about those. Jeeze, there's never anything left to talk about when Turks get involved,” Zack sighs.

“Turks?” Her skin prickles, remembering the eyes on her back. Zack is still talking, but her focus drifts behind them until his hand squeezes hers, a reminder she’s safe, dragging her back into his story. 


	4. ... To Learn About You Every Day

She catches him off guard, wiggling her teasing fingers against his side. He jolts, squawking and curling instinctively to protect his vulnerable belly before his head catches up with what just happened.

Aerith blinks, surprised. 

Zack’s cheeks flush pink.

She grins then, a delighted flash of teeth like a behemoth before it bites, he thinks. Her fingers reach their target, but he's expecting her attack. He flinches, swatting her clever fingers away while he dances just out of reach.

"Oh my, are you  _ ticklish _ ?" Her giggling is adorable, but that, he decides, is not a safe question to answer honestly.


	5. ... To Hear You Sing

"Mom tried to teach me, but I sound like a little toad being strangled by a bigger toad," Aerith says, busying her hands in the drying soil. 

"You just need to practice,” Zack laughs. “Singing is a skill like any other— you have to work to be good at it."

He demonstrates, belting a deep scale, fluid until he stumbles over a sour note that hangs uncomfortably in the church's rafters. He clears his throat, embarrassed. “Guess I need practise too.”

Aerith tells him it's the most beautiful thing she's heard with a smile for the flush in his cheeks.


	6. ... You Would Forgive me

He’s flippant when the kids push them apart— he  _ says _ not to worry, but she can see how it hurts him. His eyes give him away. 

The kids are just concerned.

_ Daddy said he's trouble. _

_ Mrs. Gemma called him  _ Shinra.

_ He should go away! _

She calls him that night. “Are you mad?”

“Why would I be mad?”

“You were excited; I felt bad leaving you like that. 

"Forgive me?”

“There’s nothing to forgive. It was worth the look on Kunsel’s face— he thought you dumped me!”

“...You told him the truth, right?”

There's a pause. “I’ll tell him tomorrow. Promise.” 


	7. ... I Could Make You Laugh

“What do Moogles drink in the morning?”

Zack smiles, shaking his head. 

“A  _ kupo _ coffee!” Aerith grins. “Why did the chocobo cross the road?” 

“‘To go for a  _ wark _ ;’ everyone knows that one.” He bumps their shoulders playfully, the corner of his lips perking. 

“What shoes do mages wear?”

He peeks down at her feet before guessing; “Boots?”

“Nope,  _ heals _ . Okay, what's the worst part about dropping a cactuar?”

He huffs at the absurdity of the question. “I don’t know, what?”

“Catching it!”

Aerith beams, proud, when he finally barks in sudden, head turning laughter. 

That one always gets everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Realizing you were holding a cactuar?" Zack guesses, thinking way too hard about it.


	8. ... To Be There When You Cry

“Want to talk about him?" 

Zack shrugs, shoulders heavy.

Aerith drops down next to him, cozying in under his arm. 

He sucks in a shaky breath. "He was... just my mentor but... Angeal taught me  _ so much  _ more than just how to be a SOLDIER."

Somberly he recounts grueling lessons and cheerful celebrations, painting the familial bond they shared until he chokes on the memories. Aerith slips her arms around him— Zack pulls her into his lap to better curl his face against her shoulder. And Aerith, no stranger to this aching grief, squeezes tighter, praying he finds his solace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've only watched cutscenes, but I am very down with how often Zack cries in Crisis


	9. ... We Could go on an Adventure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this and the next three are linked in location

"You want to go… to Wall Market," Zack articulates carefully. Aerith nods, curls bouncing around her smile. "The one full of prostitutes, gamblers, and randy drunks?  _ That _ Wall Market?" 

"The very one."

He appraises her, lips pursed, but then throws his arms into a shrug. "Alright sure." There's really no changing her mind once she's made it up. "Let's go." 

"Not  _ now _ , silly. Tonight! When there’s things to see.” 

“What kind of things?” He knows there's nothing there  _ he _ needs to see, when he already has the prettiest girl around holding his hand.

“ _ Hmmm _ , dunno. I suppose we’ll find out.”


	10. ... To Hear Stories of Your Home

“What’s Gongaga like?”

“Hot.” Zack speaks around a mouthful of noodles. “And wet. It’s humid  _ all _ the time.”

“Is it big?”

“Not at all,” he chuckles, shaking his head. "The only thing keeping it from falling off the map is the reactor."

After dinner they wander Wall Market, their fingers laced. 

"Are the people nice?"

"Most of them," he answers carefully. "The baker hates kids and the innkeep loathes me, but other people were fine."

"Why you?" And oh, she  _ likes _ that wicked grin.

"I might have let a badger into his kitchen… In hindsight, that lifelong ban was pointless."


	11. ... To Hold You a Little More

"Something wrong?"

Zack is staring, the lights from the jukebox sparkling in his eyes.

He stands abruptly, tugging her arm. "Dance with me."

"I'm all left feet..." she warns, but he laces their fingers together and pulls her into his arms.

His smile lights up the little corner of scrap they've found behind the market. "So am I." 

The music isn't familiar, but the beat is steady.

Aerith kicks her legs; Zack stumbles over his own boots. They push and pull and twirl until they're breathless, leaning dizzily against each other— it's not for balance, and they don't pretend otherwise.


	12. ... To Stay Up All Night With You

"Elmyra's going to be mad." 

"Probably… Will you be in trouble too?"

Zack imagines Kunsel, arms crossed, frown stormy, waiting for him at the gates like the concerned older brother he pretends he isn't. "Maybe." Definitely. " I couldn't go back now if I wanted to. Curfew expired…" he checks his bare wrist, "...a while ago."

Zack hears a smile in her voice. "You don't want to go back?" Her fingers are cold, sneaking into his. 

That sliver of sky crushed between the scrap and the plates blushes, dawn creeping in.

Zack lets the squeeze of his fingers answer for him.


	13. ... You'd Give me Something to be Mad About

"...Not even your mother?!"

"Nope," Zack chirps. “Not a soul.” 

"Zack!” Aerith dismays. “She must be worried.”

“I’m sure she was too busy to notice.”

“You send letters, right?” He shakes his head and she seethes. “No mother  _ doesn't notice _ her child is missing. She might think you're dead!”

Zack scoffs, but has nothing to say to that. 

“Promise you'll write.”

“Aer-"

"Promise!” 

Her grip pinches his wrists, eyes turning stormy. Stunned by her intensity, he nods.

Satisfied, she slides her hands into his. “It’s just… I’d want you to write me too, if I didn’t know where you’d gone.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *dabs*


	14. ... For Others to See You as I Do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not *those* whispers

The town is thick with whispers today.

“ _ They’re getting too close…" _

_ “Sector seven hires mercenaries, right?" _

Aerith is sitting in the schoolyard, conspiring with her favorite kids, when familiar footfalls tug her ear. The kids rush to stand up, and she knows she’s right when they move like a wave to crowd around a nervous Zack’s legs.

"Hey mister, you really a SOLDIER?"

"Can you fight the monsters away  _ please?" _

Aerith waves and winks.

"Monsters? Of course I can fight monsters!" Zack grins, hand rising to grip the handle over his shoulder.

"See?" Aerith says. "I told you he'd help."


	15. ... To Tell You a Secret

"She's not really my mom." Aerith waves to Elmyra across the garden. "All those orphans… and she picked me."

Zack shifts to lean their shoulders together. “You're from the Leaf House, then?” It would explain her fondness for the place.

Aerith shakes her head. "My mother… She was hurt by bad men on the plate. Elmyra helped us, but she didn't make it.”

Zacks chest twinges. "Aer….” He pulls her into his side with an arm around her shoulders.

“It’s okay.” Her voice echoes with scabbed-over grief. “The Planet brought me to her. I think it means… she needed me.”


	16. ... You Would Leave So I Can Miss You

“You have to leave, don't you?”

Zack picks idly at his scar. “What makes you say that?”

“You get touchier when you have to go,” Aerith tells him, indicating his arm around her waist as they walk. Unrepentant, he pulls her closer.

“Can't a guy hold his girlfriend?"

"He can, but maybe she wishes he'd do it more than just before he leaves her?" 

Zack smirks. "And why might she want that?"

"It would give her something to miss." Aerith says, winding her trapped arm around his back. 

He hums in interest. "Well, he  _ does _ want her to miss him..." 


	17. ... We Would Talk About Our Dreams

“My dreams?” Zack pauses his digging when she asks. “I’m gonna be a hero!”

“Really… How will you know you’ve done that?” 

“When all Midgar knows my name."

"That just makes you famous." Her tone is as teasing as it is chiding.

“Not if I’ve saved a lot of people,” he grunts, shoveling another pile of lifeless dust into the compost Aerith is mixing.

“I suppose you’re watching close for that future, then?” 

“Every chance I get!”

“Word of advice?” She asks, twisting to look at him. He  _ hm? _ s and turns, pausing again. “Don’t forget to look behind you.”


	18. ... You Would Drive Me Crazy

"Look at me," he requests suddenly. As Aerith turns to comply, Zack reaches for her face— her heart stutters, imagination jumping to the best conclusions in the fraction of a second it takes for their eyes to meet. He bites a smile back behind his lip.

But he doesn't cup her cheek, or lean closer, or do anything else with his lips; he just plays with the curl of her fringe, gently wiggling her hair before he takes his hand back.

"Bringing work home with you?"

Zack presents her with a scrap of leaf, and chuckles at her disappointed pout.


	19. ... I Could Face my Fears For You

“Do you think you could teach me?”

Zack, posed defensibly between her and the clueless hedgehog pie up ahead, startles. 

“Huh? Teach you to _ fight _ ?”

Aerith hesitates— fighting is  _ scary _ , and she hates it. She doesn’t want to fight, but she doesn’t want Zack to fight the slum’s monsters alone either. The guilt on her shoulders when she fixes his scrapes, considering them her fault, is stifling.

“Maybe…” She has her magic, and she doesn't need to fight just like a SOLDIER to make his job easier. “Maybe not to fight, but… I want to help.”

“We’ll figure something out.”


	20. ... I Could Learn Something With You

“Catch,” Zack says, waiting politely for Aerith's attention before tossing what he’s bought.

Aerith smacks her palms closed around something small and glassy. It pulses with life in the same way the gift from her mother does, but with more… intent. That sensation at the back of her mind that tells her to stop and listen for the planet's whispering echoes against the heartbeat-like thrumming from the sphere. 

“It’s materia. So you can help,” Zack says. “If you still want to.”

Aerith rolls the materia between her fingers. Failing to swallow her mounting excitement., she nods. “When can we start?”


	21. ... You Would Love Me Like I Do You

It was a new feeling, back then. Just a little bubble, tickling her throat with its curiosity.

And then it was a swollen stone; dense and choking, but leaving a pleasant ache in her chest. 

Lately it’s something new again; warm and malleable. It remembers its shape when he’s there, thick and heavy, but when he's gone and she only has the memories of his touch and smiles, it melts back, settling contentedly behind her heart.

She fears restricting it with a name will smother it’s flames, so lets it be as it is, intoxicating, wild, and impossible to swallow.


	22. ... I Could Spend More Time With You

"We used to make wishes on these," Zack muses, pointing.

"Did they ever work?"

"Sure— how else could I be this handsome?" 

Aerith hides a smile. Cheeky. "Maybe we should make sure it was the flowers."

Grinning, Zack teaches Aerith the rhyme to pluck the petals to, then picks two daisies.

When only the discs remain, Aerith asks "did you make a wish?"

He nods, suddenly bashful. "... For yours to come true."

She laughs, thinking back on their year of stolen moments. Is it cheating to count all that?

“It did,” she decides, and presses her lips to his cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this idea was way too big for a drabble, and was HELL to pare down without losing everything I liked about it. Hopefully it can hold itself up still
> 
> Having only watched the cut scenes, Crisis Core makes this relationship feel like it lasted a few weeks tops, and not the year and a half they actually had together, which is a shame because they cute.


	23. ... We Could Meet Again Someday

"So, you found me." He smiles tenderly.

He’s changed; grown taller, fuller. He’s more handsome than ever when he turns, motes of lifestream dancing around his face. His eyes are still as bright as the sky. 

She reaches for his hand, pulling him to her embrace for once. His lips are as soft as sunlight, his hands as gentle as a breeze. Their bodies have no substance, but she swears she feels his hair tickling her cheeks when she nuzzles his shoulder.

"You tried so hard to come back." 

"I had a promise to keep. Sorry it took so long."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even if we didn't have the context of the core game, you know somehow that promise wasn't gonna happen. :')
> 
> So that's all folks! I've never done this many drabbles before, and this was a fun challenge; so I'd be very interested to know which was your favorite, and which you thought fell flat! 
> 
> I tried to keep them all in mostly Aerith's POV so I can do a Zack counterpiece later, so maybe also let me know if I should do the same prompts, or brainstorm some new ones? 
> 
> [Find me on tumblr.](http://inktail.tumblr.com)


End file.
